25 Children Die After Syrian Forces 'Barrel Bomb' Art Show, Activists Say

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This photo provided by the anti-government activist group Aleppo Media Center (AMC), which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a bulldozer removing the wreckage of a destroyed school that was hit by a Syrian government air strike in Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, April 30, 2014.

Image: Aleppo Media Center AMC/Associated Press

By Brian Ries2014-04-30 20:11:43 UTC

At least 25 children are dead after a government plane bombed an elementary school in Aleppo, Syria on Wednesday.

The children died when Syrian forces dropped a "barrel bomb" on a school in the rebel-held city, CNN reported, citing the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria, on the day an exhibit of their art depicting the Syrian war was set to open.

Barrel bombs are essentially oil drums packed to the brim with shrapnel, nails and explosives; they have been systematically deployed against Syria's civilian population, and "tend to create larger zones of building destruction," according to Human Rights Watch.

A video posted online — which has not yet been confirmed as authentic by CNN — appears to show the children's art being displayed, as pools of blood dry amongst the rubble.

Warning: The following video contains graphic content.

“These are terrorists!” a man cries in one video, The New York Times reported, as another cries, “Five years old!”

“Every day, across Syria, children who are simply trying to go about their everyday lives are being killed and maimed by indiscriminate attacks on populated areas”, Maria Calivis, UNICEF's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, told The Times

“These attacks appear to be escalating, in complete disregard of all the calls that have been made to stop this insane cycle of violence, and to avoid similar breaches of international law.”

View photos of the children's art work, taken as screenshots from the YouTube video, below: